Almost five years ago, at the end of a particularly hedonistic summer, I decided I was an alcoholic and checked myself into a treatment center. I fondly call this place “The Dryer.” In the year following I did everything an alcoholic who had checked into a dryer should: I reflected deeply, I appreciated greatly, and […]
Kathleen Wilson
Posted inMusic
Heartland Band
Okkervil River Mine the Intimate
Okkervil River Thurs May 19th Dante’s 1 SW 3rd “All they ask is where I’ve been/Knowing I’ve been west.” Though these aren’t the words of Okkervil River singer and songwriter Will Sheff–the lyric is ’60s folk-legend Tim Hardin’s “Black Sheep Boy,” also the name of Okkervil’s newest release–they serve as a prophetic warning. The songs […]
Posted inMusic
Trail of Tears
Joseph Arthur’s Instinctive Storytelling
Joseph Arthur Thurs Dec 9 Doug Fir Lounge 830 E Burnside A yearning to put everything into storage and take off, free from attachments, for parts unknown is most likely a sign of one of two things: frustration, or a burst of creativity. For singer and songwriter Joseph Arthur, it was both. Having severed ties […]
Posted inMusic
Not So Terrible
The Modest New Mexicans
The New Mexicans Thurs July 8 Tonic Lounge 3100 NE Sandy They may try to convince you otherwise, but the members of New Mexicans are not a terrible bunch of musicians. On the contrary, the Seattle four-piece plays complicated, driving, heavy guitar rock on a par with Helmet and Drive Like Jehu, anchored by a […]
Posted inMusic
Top of the Pop
Carl Newman’s Songwriting Genius
A.C. Newman Sat June 26 Berbati’s Pan 10 SW 3rd Take a listen to any of Carl Newman’s bands; from the defunct Zumpano to the New Pornographers to his new solo act, A. C. Newman, there is no question that he runs the show creatively, no matter how many musicians and singers accompany him. Zumpano’s […]
Posted inMusic
Electronic Ease
Múm’s the Word
Múm Sat July 3 Aladdin Theater 3017 SE Milwaukie People from Iceland must have a fantastic sense of humor about communication breakdowns, because when I asked Múm leader Gunnar Örn Tynes if I was pronouncing his name correctly, he laughed, said I wasn’t, and, after many attempts to cross our language barrier, told me I […]
Posted inMusic
Heavy Handed
Helio Sequence’s Compound Pop
Helio Sequence Sat June 26 Crystal Ballroom 1332 W. Burnside The first track of Helio Sequence’s Love and Distance blasts with reverb-drenched harmonica, psychedelic stomped-guitar, and vaguely ’70s inflected vocals, signaling the beginning of an album alive with compound pop. “I think [the album] is going to surprise a lot of people,” says Brandon Summers, […]
Posted inMusic
Love and Heat
Franz Ferdinand’s Sexy Pop
Franz Ferdinand Mon March 22 Berbati’s Pan 10 SW 3rd Before assuming a name inspired by the Austrian archduke or a racehorse (depending on the story), Franz Ferdinand were called something else. The Glaswegian quartet’s sound, and maybe a bit of their aesthetic, was miles away from the raucous, sexy pop they’re receiving rave reviews […]
Posted inMusic
No New Converts
Still a Religion to Some, the Church Returns
The Church Tues Mar 23 Dante’s 1 SW 3rd It’s ironic that the new record by Australian legends the Church is titled Forget Yourself. Because it seems they, of all bands, cannot follow that command. Since 1980 they’ve put out something like 18 albums and a few box sets. “Under the Milky Way,” off 1988’s […]
Posted inMusic
Mend These Trends
South Pick Up the Pieces
South Wed Jan 28 Berbati’s Imagine that due to label wrangling at your home in the UK, your September 2003 sophomore album (With the Tides), which is vastly different in style from your 2001 debut (From Here on In), is first released in the U.S., with a North American tour to back it up. Just […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Secret Language
Mona Lisa Smile is Cannily Aware
Mona Lisa Smile dir. Newell Opens Fri Dec 19 Various Theaters About two-thirds of the way through Mike Newell’s Mona Lisa Smile, the anger of Betty (Kirsten Dunst’s viperous Wellesley Girl) splinters away, releasing a storm of cruelty that aches with the character’s underlying self-hatred. Rather than strike back, however, Warren’s classmate, Giselle (Maggie Gyllenhaal), […]
Posted inMusic
Not Fucked–Not Quite
In Memoriam: Elliott Smith
“I may not seem quite right But I’m not fucked–not quite” –“Bled White” When I heard the awful news that Elliott Smith had killed himself on October 21, it wasn’t sadness I felt at first, but exasperation. It was Tuesday evening and the report spread quickly through the bar where I was sitting. No one […]